​Deja vu is French for ‘already seen.’ Deja Vu is the feeling that the situation currently being experienced has already been experienced although it has not happened before. 70 percent of world population has reported having some type of deja vu. Some people even experience deja vu multiple times a day, and while often deja vu is usually fast and fleeting, one article in the New York Times focuses on one woman that experiences often and prolonged deja vu. This is peculiar because usually deja vu does not last this long. So, that leaves us with the question, what really causes it?

Deja vu has been around for centuries, yet there still isn’t a solid explanation as to why it happens. Many psychologists have evaluated this and studied the topic for years and have not yet come to a definite conclusion. The concept of deja vu is very complicated and there are many theories as to why it happens. People who have experienced deja vu describe it as being familiar with something that they shouldn’t be, or something that they’ve already experienced.

For example, you could be at a certain place with certain people talking about a specific topic. If you have deja vu, you feel like you’ve done this exact thing before, down to every last detail. Since deja vu happens to people with and without a medical condition, nobody knows for sure what exactly causes it.

One theory states that deja vu is caused by the confusion of the brain that causes it to mistake the present for the past. Another theory links deja vu to the paranormal or something that you’ve experienced in a past life. Deja vu could be used to show that the person may be psychic or gifted. So, whether you believe that you are psychic or just have a occasional glitch of the brain, you may be one of the people that experience deja vu.

Story by Benzi Allen and Olive Donochod 

Source: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/027a57_6787c1ea1f1d472da4e70f9d2f6828bf~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_353,h_353,al_c,lg_1,q_80/027a57_6787c1ea1f1d472da4e70f9d2f6828bf~mv2.webp

 The battle of Alesia, or often referred to as one of the craziest battles in history. The battle was between the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, and the celtic race of Gaul, led by Vercingetorix. For most of the 50s, the Romans spent their time fighting the Gauls and trying to gain territory, the Romans also saw the Gauls as barbarians, initially where most of the two states beef originated. The battle took place in 52 BCE. Shortly after Vercingetorix was appointed power of the Gaul army, Caesar was notified that every Roman civilian in the city senabum had been murdered. Followed by many other Roman cities being murdered by the Gaul army. This trail of murders begun a game of cat and mouse between the two states and eventually lead Vercingetorix and his 60 thousand followers to reside in the hill tops of Alesia.

“The actual stronghold of Alesia was in an extremely lofty position on top of a hill, apparently impregnable except by means of a siege. On two sides the foot of this hill was washed by rivers, and for about three miles there stretched a plain in front of the town.”  described by Julius Caesar himself. Caesar, known for his quick and decisive maneuvering, assess the the battlefield quickly. The Roman army quickly began to build a ten foot wall surrounding Alesia, called a circumvolution, trapping them in and blocking out outside resources. Caesar knew that an attack on the city wouldn't have worked out in the favor of the Romans due to the fact that the Romans were completely outnumbered by the Gauls. Vercingetorix made many attempts to stop this building ut they all failed due to the walls defenses which include a 20 foot wide pit followed by 2 more V shaped pits, both 15 feet deep. One of them turned into a moat by a near by river. Scattered around, multiple smaller pits with metal spikes at the bottom. If any of Vervingetorixs ended up making it across all of these obstacles they would end up facing a 2 foot wall with projecting metal spikes.

During the construction of the deathly entrapments a cavalry battle between the Romans and the Gauls broke out in the 3 miles between the two walls, those being caesars wall and Alesia's wall. In the beginning, the Gauls took the upper hand, that is until Caesar sent in his German troops. The fear that these troops struck into the Gauls was so mighty that it sent all Gaul troops running back toward Alessia. Men began to abandon their horses and attempt to climb the wall. This shook Vercingetorix so much that he closed the gates back into Alessia, trapping the remainder of his own troops outside the walls, left to be killed by the Germans. 

As the building of the wall continued, there was slim to nothing the Gauls could do. Vercingetorix, in ultimate fear of the Romans, took a daring chance. In the night he sent 12,000 cavalry passed Roman lines, to their tribes and bring back as many more men as they could. They returned with a massive amount of support, as many as 240,000 infantry and nearly 8,000 cavalry. In light of these new reinforcements, caesar, shocked and frankly, with nothing else to do, built another wall. Now, having one wall trapping Vercingetorix in Alessia and the other blocking the overall majority of his men out. However, in the process trapping him and his men, in the middle of the two.

Meanwhile, in Alesia, rations began to dwindle, not only for Vercingetorix's men but for the several civilians living in the town. This was probably to the two enormous walls being built around their city. Vercingetorix decided to send as many as 3,000 woman and children out of Alesia to try and escape through Caesars wall. Caesar, being the super sweet and compassionate guy everyone knew him to be, wouldn't let them through and when they tried to re enter Alesia, neither would Vercingetorix. Leaving the people to starve in between the two walls.


The Gauls are obviously desperate at this point. The Gauls planned a night raid in hope of maybe, possibly catching the Romans unprepared. The Gauls came equipped with hurdles to get over the tortuous pits and ladders to cross the trenches and to top it off grappling hooks to try and overcome the protruding wall spikes. The Gauls also came armed with many arrows men in order to fend off Romans. However, the Gauls took yet another loss. With outstanding casualties from both sides. The Gauls really can't seem to get the upper hand.  However, the immense amounts of reinforcements are still standing idly buy waiting to attack. A weak point in Caesar's wall had recently come to light, that of atop a steep hill in which the construction could not take place. The men on the outside decided to take advantage of this particular point.

This battle began in the day, where Vercingetorix set his men from inside of Alessia out, to attack the Romans from the inside out. While the men on the outside sent the men battling the Romans from the outside in. The Romans Were faced with battles on both fronts. The Gauls were gaining the upper hand while picking at the weak spots in Caesars force. Caesar, seeing his forces fall to pieces decided to enter the battle himself, he began to reroute his troops, seeing his current plan literally falling to pieces. He sent cavalry around the Gauls outer troops in order to attack them from behind. The sight of the Roman cavalry attacking the Gauls from behind struck fear into each and everyone of their hearts, this was the beginning of the end of the Gallic war. At this point the Gauls had nowhere to escape, and so, with romans attacking them from every angle there was nothing for them to do. The Gauls were torn to pieces. And Caesar had won.
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After this embarrassing loss Vercingetorix rode to Caesar and surrendered. He was put in jail for 6 years and later forced to be in a parade for Caesar. Then he was executed.
            
Story by Aislinn Nash

Sources:
ttps://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Alesia-52-BCE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU1Ej9Yqt68
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/guest-bloggers/battle-alesia-roman-siege-completed-julius-caesars-conquest-gaul.html

As the genre of Kpop is slowly making its way to America, many groups are topping international music charts. NCT, which stands for “Neo Culture Technology”, has been kicking off the new year with lots of new music. NCT is a South Korean group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2016. The group currently has 18 members, 3 of which were only recently added in January of this year. They are known mostly for their unique overall concept of being a group with an infinite amount of members all divided into subunits based in different cities around the world. The group is also widely diverse with 9 members coming from South Korea, 5 from China, 1 from the United States, 1 from Canada, 1 from Thailand, and 1 from Japan. The first subunit, “NCT U” made their debut in April of 2016 with 6 members (Taeyong, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Ten, Mark, and Taeil) and two digital singles “The 7th Sense” and “Without You”. Shortly after, the second subunit, based in Seoul, “NCT 127” debuted in July with their first mini album and 7 members (Taeyong, Jaehyun, Mark, Taeil, Yuta, Winwin, and Haechan). The final two members of NCT 127, Doyoung and Johnny, were added in January of the next year. The third and currently last unit to debut was “NCT DREAM” in August of 2016 with the single “Chewing Gum” and 7 members (Mark, Haechan, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Chenle, and Jisung.) After the addition of three new members; Kun, Jungwoo, and Lucas, who were added to existing subunits respectively, the group is kicking off the NCT 2018 project.
 
The new album, titled ‘Empathy’, was released at 5:00 AM EST on March 14th. The album features songs from all subunits of NCT. Three of these songs had already been out to public beforehand with their own music videos, while the fourth was released around the same time as the album. NCT 2018 began with the single “BOSS” by NCT U on February 18th. The song is a bass-heavy dance song filled with both powerful vocals and charismatic raps with a chanting chorus that features lyrics about leadership written by members Mark and Taeyong. The second song of the total six was another under the unit NCT U. However, this song was simply a duet project between members Ten and Taeyong titled “Baby Don’t Stop” released on February 26th. The song is also a bass heavy tune with both vocals and raps from the two members. The third release to hit the public was a song titled “GO” performed by NCT DREAM and released on March 4th. The song tried out a whole new style for NCT DREAM as their previous tracks have played along with bubbly and lighthearted themes, while “GO” allowed them to grow up a bit and have a stronger sound. The song features another chanting chorus and conveys the spirit of teenagers just wanting to have fun. The fourth and final track separate from the album that was released on March 13th by NCT 127 is “TOUCH”. This song also tried out a new style for the unit as most of their songs have been more heavy and powerful, while “TOUCH” comes in with a joyful sounding chorus and vocals. To add to the change, this is accompanied by a music video with the perfect mixture between soft pastels and dark colors in both the sets and members’ wardrobes.
 
The full album consists of 14 items. With two new songs not released before the album titled “YESTODAY” and “Black on Black” and both an intro and outro, fans, also known as NCTzens,  had much to listen to. Along with new NCT music, the album features 4 songs released in the previous years and before promotions of Empathy. “Timeless”, a ballad sung by the trio of members Doyoung, Jaehyun and Taeil, “The 7th Sense”, NCT U’s debut song, the original and Chinese versions of NCT U’s “Without You”, and “Dream In a Dream”, a solo project by member Ten.            

This album is sure to bring success to the group and as many believe, a spike in their overall popularity seeing as within less than a day of its release, it hit No.1 on the iTunes music chart in 18 countries and on domestic music charts. According to the group’s company, the album had already made over 200,000 pre-orders by March 6th. They may not have ranked at No.1 everywhere, but the album did rank in the Top 10 of the iTunes charts in 26 countries proving the group as global artists. 

Story by Krislynn Hawkins